ABOUT VOLAPÜK - AND OTHER LANGUAGES


MAY 27:
People have perhaps sometimes said to you:  This is pure volapyk!  This normally means that something is totally un-understandable ☹    But most people do not know where the word Volapyk – or volapük – comes from.  I have decided to write about it today:
VOLAPÜK  is an artificial language created by the catholic German priest Johan Martin Schleyer in 1879. He claimed that God in a dream had asked him to create a new international language.
He built his language on words and expressions from English, German and French. And very soon more than a hundred thousand Volaküpists were supporting the new language.

International Volapük congresses were held in 1884 and 1887 (in Germany) and in 1889 (in Paris). The language used at these congresses was German, not Volapük. In 1889 you had 283 Volapük clubs and 25 magazines. And 316 text books existed in 25 languages.
Around the turn of the century the language more or less disappeared again. It was too complicated and did not develop. And the rise of the other international artificial language Esperanto was another reason.  Though a new and simpler form was created in 1931 it did not change much. And today less than a 100 persons speak Volapük.
As an example you can see how the Lord’s Prayer looks like in Volapük:
O Fat obas, kel binol in süls!

Nem olik pasaludükonöd!

Regän ola kömonöd!

Vil olik jenonöd,

äsä in sül, i su tal!

Givolös obes adelo bodi aldelik obsik!

E pardolös obes döbotis obsik,

äsä i obs pardobs utanes, kels edöbons kol obs.

E no blufodolös obis,

ab livükolös obis de bad!



Actually, there is a version of WIKIPEDIA in Volapük:  https://vo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cifapad  

Try and see how much you can understand !



There are today about 6.000 different languages in the world today. About half of them are said to be in the risk of disappearing.   In other word:  there are more than enoouh languages to take words and expressions from, if you want to try to make your own artificial language.  I am afraid it is very time consuming.  So, I have no plans to make one 😊


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